The present invention relates to a building component and in particular to a component for use in the formation of a floor, wall or ceiling, and to floors, walls or ceilings made using the component. The present invention also relates to a method of constructing a floor, wall or ceiling.
In the past, the general method of laying a floor has been to first lay a number of floor supporting beams or battens and then to apply a flooring layer on top of the battens to form the floor's surface. In modern constructions it is frequently the case that a basic concrete structure is provided over which it is desired to lay a floor spaced a short distance from the concrete. Some walls and ceilings are made in the same way and one can find many instances of false walls and ceilings which are spaced a short distance from an underlying sub-structure suspended ceilings are a particularly widespread example.
The state of the art in so far as it relates to flooring is outlined in GB 2,126,265 in which there is described a flooring component which is intended to be located on the structural member over which the floor is to be laid. The flooring component comprises a pair of base elements on the upper surface of which there is mounted a pair of spaced, longitudinally extending support members. The base elements and support members together define a cradle which is adapted to accommodate a support batten over which the flooring layer is to be applied. A resilient material is mounted on a lower surface of the base element such that in use the resilient material contacts the underlying structural member while levelling of the support batten is effected by interposing spacers between the base element and an underside of the support batten.
A modification of the above flooring component is disclosed in GB 2,185,048 in which there is described an arrangement in which the pair of support members are each formed with a discontinuity. In this way a channel is provided capable of accommodating a second support batten extending generally at right angles to the first.
Despite this improvement, there are nevertheless a number of problems associated with the flooring components of the prior art. For example, as GB 2,185,048 makes clear, the pair of support members are typically formed of a rigid material such as wood or metal and are therefore incapable of flexing to accommodate support battens of differing widths. Indeed, if the support batten has a width which is greater than the distance between the support members, the batten simply will not fit into the cradle. Likewise, if the support batten has a width which is significantly less than the distance between the side support members, there will be a tendency for the batten to move laterally within the cradle and thereby act as a source of additional noise as people, or objects, move, or are moved, over the overlying flooring layer.
Likewise, the only way of adjusting the height of the supporting batten is by inserting spacers between the batten and the cradle in the longitudinal direction of the batten. This means that if the support batten is not at the correct height it must first be lifted out of the cradle to allow a spacer to be inserted before the support batten is then reintroduced into the cradle and the height reassessed. It would be far more convenient if a method could be found of introducing spacers between the base element and the supporting batten which did not require the supporting batten to be continually lifted out of the cradle.
In addition, in the past any spacers that were introduced between the supporting batten and the cradle were held in position by adhesive. This of course meant that it was not possible to reposition or remove a spacer for any reason once it had been inserted.
Furthermore, because the prior art flooring components are formed of three or more elements, each of a different material, the time and cost involved in their construction is significant. In view of this it would also be desirable to provide a less expensive building component and preferably one that could be adapted on site for the particular application concerned.
Occasionally it is desirable to raise the height of the floor a significant distance above the underlying structural member so as to allow, for example, the introduction of one or more layers of insulating material between the floor and the structural member. These materials may possess acoustic and/or thermal insulating properties and be required in order to meet building regulations. Nevertheless, it is clearly not desirable to raise the floor more than is necessary and so the distance separating the floor and the underlying structural member is preferably matched to the required thickness of the insulating material. Such thickness is, of course, dependent upon the desired performance of the floor, and so varies substantially between different applications. However, in the prior art, this floor raising has been achieved in one of two ways.
Firstly, the supporting cradles have been manufactured with a base of a thickness appropriate to raise the floor the necessary height. However, this is inconvenient as it involves the manufacture of a number of different sized cradles. Additionally, the end user cannot easily alter spacing between the floor and the underlying structural member on site should an alternate spacing be required from that originally envisaged.
The second way of increasing the spacing between the floor and the underlying structural member has been by using a standard size flooring component and simply inserting numerous thin packing spacers between the base element and the supporting batten until the desired height is achieved. However, in order to achieve a rigid supporting structure, these spacers must inconveniently be firmly nailed or glued together. Even then the total thickness of the spacers cannot be more than that which would raise the support batten above the level of the support members and leave the batten with no lateral support.